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How Do I Get A Pawnbrokers License?

  • 05-03-2009 9:16pm
    #1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 427 ✭✭


    Or does such a thing exist?


Comments

  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,388 ✭✭✭delllat


    Or does such a thing exist?

    ive never heard of anyone in ireland running one but they exist in other countries

    u would have to be strict on id or ud have a shop full of stolen goods in no time which the guards would be liable to seize

    i think the way it works in other countries is someone comes in with a item worth say 500euro

    u give them 250 for it and the option of buying it back for 30 days for say 300

    if they dont show within 30 days u sell the item for 500 to who ever


  • Registered Users Posts: 17,247 ✭✭✭✭6th


    I used to make up newspaper ads for a few of these years ago I think there is pretty much 1 guy in Dublin who runs a few shops and is involved with antique shops too. I'll see if I can find the name of the shop and post it up.


  • Registered Users Posts: 17,247 ✭✭✭✭6th


    Yeah its Carthy Pawnbrokers.

    An article from the Indo last August:
    Hock of ages
    They're associated with the depressed days of pre-Celtic Tiger Ireland. But with the cold snap of recession in the air again, pawn shops have come back into vogue, writes Ciaran Brennan
    Tuesday August 05 2008


    IN days gone by when times were tough, it was not unknown for people to pawn their Sunday suits at the local pawnbrokers, take it out of the pawn shop on Saturday, wear it to Sunday Mass and put it back in for Monday morning.

    Things have changed since then, and with the Celtic Tiger roaring for the past 15 or so years pawn shops and those using them have dwindled.

    "The number of articles being pawned now is a lot less than it used to be," explains Pat Carthy of Carthy Pawnbrokers on Dublin's Marlborough Street.

    "When I came to the business first, 30 years ago, the numbers were huge. We had 13 staff working in the pawn office and there were three pawn offices in Marlborough Street alone."

    Now Carthy's is the sole surviving pawn shop on the street. But with the economic downturn of the past number of months, the pawnbroking business is suddenly back in vogue, says Mr Carthy, who also runs a traditional jewellers shop over the pawn business.

    "There seems to be a downturn in the retail sales and an upturn in the pawnbroking business," he says. "People never give reasons, but like anything else their cashflow has tightened."

    So, how does the pawnbroking business work?

    A customer will bring an item into the shop and the pawnbroker will assess it for its condition and its sale potential. The broker will also assess the amount the customer may need for the item. If the pawnbroker is interested in the item, he will offer the customer an amount for it. The customer can either sell the item outright, or offer the item as collateral on a loan.

    According to Mr Carthy, traditional pawnbrokers will not offer to buy an item, but take it as collateral for a loan.

    If an item is pawned for a loan, within a certain contractual period of time the pawner of an item may buy it back for the amount of the loan plus some agreed-upon amount for interest.

    "We give you a contract. We both sign it and come to an agreement. We store it for four months; that gives you four months to come back and collect it," says Mr Carthy.

    The amount of time, and rate of interest, is governed by law and the pawnbroker's policies.

    "There is a small amount of interest charged," explains Mr Carthy. "On €100, it is €3.25 a month. It's not expensive. We have slightly different rates from other pawnbrokers -- it depends on how much you borrow."

    However, personal-finance experts have pointed out that this works out at an interest rate of 39pc over a year.

    The pawnbroker is legally obliged to provide full details of interest rates in order to receive a licence, according to Mr Carthy.

    "If we were going to charge too much they wouldn't give us a licence," he says.

    By other countries' standards, Mr Carthy says the rates of interest charged by pawnbrokers in Ireland are low.

    "Pawnbrokers in England would charge between two to three times what we do, so we're fairly cheap actually. Some of them are charging £9 for every £100 borrowed."

    If the loan is not paid within the time period, the pawnbroker becomes the legitimate owner of the goods.

    Mr Carthy argues that pawnbrokers provide something of a social service -- a line of credit to people who are hard up.

    "We are helping people who just need a bit of a help. We're not overcharging them," he says.

    By taking collateral in exchange for a loan, he says that the pawn shop's service is no different to that of a bank.

    "Only we don't deal with the amounts of money that the banks deal with," he says.

    Mr Carthy adds that somebody seeking to pawn an item most provide identification and details of their bona fides.

    Increased footfall in pawn shops is a sign of the times. It seems that in times of recession, at least one business will do well.


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